Elevator and dump



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

W. L. OAKBS.

ELEVATOR AND DUMP. No. 521,888. Patented June 26,1894.

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- UNITED STATES PATENT QFETQE.

WILLIAM L. OAKES, OF DECATUR, ILLINOIS.

ELEVATOR AND DUMP.

SPECIFICATION'forming part of Letters Patent No. 521,888, dated June 26, 1894.

A Application filed March 19, 1894. Serial No. 504,140. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern.-

Be it known that I, WILLIAM L. OAKES, of Decatur, in the county of Macon and State of Illinois, have invented certain new and use,- ful Improvements in Elevators and Dumps, of which the following is a specification.

At stations along the railroads in graingrowing localities it is common to operate elevators and dumps in connection with bins for storing grain, provision being made for delivering the grain direct tp cars, for immediate shipment, and for delivering it to the bins and from the bins to the cars, when temporary storage is desired or made necessary by lack of shipping facilities. In one class of such contrivances the grain is dumped from the farm wagon into a dump box and the team of the wagon is used to elevate the box. If a car is convenient and it is desired to ship the grain at once, a chute is placed, or adjusted, to convey the grain from the dump box directly to the car,'but if it is necessary or desirable to temporarily store the grain the chute is so placed that the grain will pass to an adjacent bin; and, 'whenthe time for shipment arrives, the box is moved contiguous to the bin, grain is permitted to run from the bin into the box, the box is ele vated and the grain is delivered to the car. Heretofore in such contrivances the elevator shaft has been placed to one side of the wagon way, which has necessitated an indirect pull in the primary hoisting operations, and precluded the placing of bins on all sides of the shaft. In addition to this the hoisting tackle has not been adapted to freely permit the necessary motions of the dump box and restrain unnecessary motions, nor has it been adapted to stand long continued use and sustain heavy loads. I

Y My invention relates to the class specified, it is designed to mend the stated imperfec tions, and it is embodied in the details of construction and combinations of parts hereinafter set forth and claimed.

In the drawings forming part of this specification Figure 1 is a side elevation of the I elevator shaft, the tackle and the dump box.

grain to the cars is indicated in the different figures of the drawings by broken lines. The frame of the elevator shaft is shown at l,and such frame may be constructed in any desirable manner. At the foot of the shaft is a pit, 2, which is deep enough to entirely receive the dump box, and which extends from opposite sides of the shaft substantially as shown in Figs. 2 and 3 of the drawings. Axle 3 has bearings in the upper end of the shaft frame, and its position is crosswise with relation to the pit. It is preferably grooved from the ends to the center in reverselspirals, and an end of hoisting rope 4 is connected with each of its ends. The rope runs around pulley 5 and is preferably connected therewith, and the pulley is fastened to the lift block of the dump box 6. Drum 8 is fixed on the shaft of the axle, and it has the fall rope 9 which runs around a pulley at the base of the shaft. Bars 10 extend obliquely from the shaft into the. pit. They verted to either, or neither, end of the pit.

Above the switch the bars 12 form guide ways for the wheels of the ,box, and at the switch the-oblique bars 12 aid in keeping the box in proper position and on the desired course. Arm 13, which is outside the path of the guide wheel of the box, is connected with stop 14, which is in such path, and line 15 provides means for raising the arm and releasing the stop. The guides, stops, switches, &c., shown in Fig. 3 are duplicated on the oppposite side of the shaft, and through their use the box is hold while dumping, and is directed to the center or to either-side of the pit, as occasion may require. The shaft is built directly over the wagon way 18, shown in Fig. 2, and space is left for the passage of wagons, which may run over the door with which such pits are ordinarily provided. The dump sills 16 provide for dumping the contents of the wagon into the box in the pit. The positions of the bins are shown at 17, and' the horizontal lograin to aside and the pit is bridged by a door or otherwise. When the contents of the wagon are dumped into the box in the pit, the fall rope is connected with the wagon, as indicated in Fig. 3, and the team is made to hoist the box by pulling on the fall rope. Thesides of the shaft act as guides for the box until the switch is passed, when the guide ways 12 act on the rollers 7and keep the box in proper position. When the stops 14 are reached they are pressed out of the path of the rollers, and as the rollers pass they drop behind them and sustain the box while it is being dumped. If the grain is to go directly to a car a chute is placed to receive the grain from the box and conveyit to the car, through the space indicated at 19 in Fig. 2 for instance, and if it is to go to the bins the chute is disposed suitably to effect that result. Sooner or later, however, grain will accumulate in the bins and thetime will come for shipping it, and when that time arrives the switches are adjusted to guide the box to one end or the other of the pit, grain is permitted to run from the bin into the box, and the box is elevated, by a team of horses, or in any desirable manner, and the grain is dumped through the chute to the car. This operation is continued until the bins adjacent to one end of the pit are emptied, when the switches may be adjusted to cause the box to descend into the opposite end of the pit and the work will continue, as explained, until the bins on that side are emptied, or until shipments are suspended. The grain is fed from the bins to the box principally by gravity, and it is therefore easy to see that the closer the grain is kept to the pit the easier the bins may be emptied. On the same principle the closer the bins are to the shaft the easier and more completely they can be filled. This being the case the advantage of extending the wagon way through the shaft, arranging the bins on opposite sides of the wagon way, and extending the pit between the bins on opposite sides of the shaft becomes plainly apparent.

In order that the box may have its various motions it is necessary that the tackle shall be peculiarly constructed or best results will not be attained, and herein lies an important feature of my invention. The winding axle is transverse with relation to the length of the pit, and the consequent sidewise movements of the box, and so the rope winds perfectly and with no side strain, no matter what the position of the box may be. Also, the hoisting rope is connected with the ends of the axle and converges toward the box, and this condition tends to hold the box against twisting while increasing the strength of the hoist; and in addition to this the pulley 5, by its freedom to rock, acts as an equalizer to divide the strain between the two ends of the rope, or between the two ropes in case the rope should be cut and each end be fastened to the pulley or its equivalent.

The structure above described embodies and illustrates my invention but does not limit or define it. The claims define the scope of the invention, and particularly point out the peculiarities thatl desire to cover by Letters Patent.

Having thus described my invention, I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. The combination of an elevator shaft, a wagon Way through the shaft, a pit at the base of the shaft extending through and beyond the same, bins adjacent to the extensions of the pit, an elevating dump box having guide rollers, and a system of tracks and switchesin the shaft adapted to guide the box to either end or to the center of the pit, substantially as set forth.

2. The combination of an elevating shaft, A

an elongated pit at the base of the shaft, bins adjacent to the pit, an elevating dump box for the shaft adapted to reach the extremities of the pit for the purpose of receiving the contents of the bins, a winding axle at the top of the shaft crosswise to the length of the pit, and a rope connecting the axle with the box, substantially as set forth. j

3. The combination of an elevator shaft, an elongated pit at the base of the shaft, bins adjacent to the pit, an elevating dump box for the shaftadapted to reach the extremities of the pit for the purpose of receiving the contents of the bins, a windingaxle at the top of the shaft crosswise to the length of the pit, a drum for the fall rope at the top of the shaft and connected with the axle,and a rope connecting the axle with the box, substantially as set forth.

4. The combination of an elevator shaft, an elongated pit at the base of the shaft, bins adjacent to the pit, an elevating dump box for the shaft adapted to reach the extremities of the pit for the purpose of receiving the contents of the bins, a winding axle at the top of the shaft crosswise to the length of the pit,

and ropes converging from the ends of the axle toward the box and connecting the axle iwith the box, substantially as set forth.

5. The combination of an elevator shaft,

an elongated pit at the base of the shaft, bins adjacent to the pit, an elevatingdump box for the shaft adapted to reach the extremities of the pit for the purpose-of receiving thecontents of the bins, a winding axle at the top of the shaft crosswise to the length of the pit, a rocking equalizer secured to the box, and ropes converging from the ends of the axle toward the box and connecting the axle with opposite sides of the equalizer, substantially as set forth.

In testimony whereof I sign my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

WM. L. oAxEs.

Attest:

BRECKENRIDGE IRWIN, C. W. RILLING.

IIC 

